The Bulgarian Brothers – A College Hoops 2K8 & NBA 2K20 Dynasty

[BlindSideNZ]

Re: The Bulgarian Brothers – A College Hoops 2K8 & NBA 2K20 Dynasty

Oh man, Face/Off! Is it still as good as I remember it being? Or am I glorifying it a bit after all these years.

[studbucket]

Re: The Bulgarian Brothers – A College Hoops 2K8 & NBA 2K20 Dynasty

Oh man, Face/Off! Is it still as good as I remember it being? Or am I glorifying it a bit after all these years.

I have no idea. Been way too long. Not even sure I saw the whole thing. You'll have to report back

[studbucket]

Catch up on St. Francis

Since the Drago Derby, the St. Francis Red Flash have played 6 conference games, here’s how they fared.

St. Francis 74 @ Wagner 48 (Jan 2, 2026)
The Red Flash win easily thanks to 20 points from Chris Thompson and 18 from Erwin Willingham while E.F. McGuire scored 14 and Louie Carlisle grabbed 10 rebounds and added 4 blocks off the bench. The Seahawks only scored 19 second half points.

St. Francis 85 @ Fake Francis 63 (Jan 4, 2026)
There were no major standout performers or stats, the real St. Francis team is just so much more talented than their New York competitors. Chris Thompson had 19 points and 8 rebounds, while Bobby Valdez and E.F. McGuire combined for 11 assists in their role as off-guards.

Sacred Heart 68 @ St. Francis 77 (Jan 9, 2026)
Chris Thompson led the way with 18 points and 9 rebounds while E.F. McGuire scored 14 off the bench. Star center Martin Harvey went 3-14 for the Pioneers.

Monmouth 53 @ St. Francis 78 (Jan 11, 2026)
The Hawks shot 1-11 from three and only scored 19 first half points as the Red Flash cruised behind Erwin Willingham’s 21 points and team shooting of 10-18 from three.

St. Francis 98 @ Fairleigh Dickinson 60 (Jan 16, 2026)
The Red Flash completely destroyed the Knights, who committed 30 fouls in the loss, allowing St. Francis to shoot 52 free throws. Erwin Willingham scored 23 points, Chris Thompson had 20, Taj Hailey 15, and Bobby Valdez 14. E.F. McGuire dished out 10 assists from the bench and Louie Carlisle had 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 blocks as a sub.

Central Connecticut State 63 @ St. Francis 98 (Jan 18, 2026)
Another NEC game, another St. Francis blowout. Erwin Willingham led all scorers with 24 points and Fernandez Markovic had 19.


The Red Flash are dominating their schedule and are now 8-0 in conference play and 18-2 overall. Even the talented Long Island Blackbirds are only 5-2 in conference and 13-5 overall. St. Francis is 32^nd in RI and up to 3^rd in the latest Mid Major Poll, just behind San Francisco and Louisiana-Lafayette. You can see the latest poll in the January 12 edition of College Hoops tonight below.

[studbucket]

January 18, 2026 Loyola Marymount at Santa Clara [WCC]

The Lions of LMU are on a 4-game winning streak after defeating Gonzaga on the road 94-72. The Bulldogs are expected to finish near the top of the West Coast Conference, which makes this a possible statement win for Loyola Marymount. They held all Gonzaga starters to 11 points or fewer in the game and were able to get Mack Fitzgerald (C, 82 ovr) to foul out. Reid Christensen had no rebounds or assists but managed to score 23 points, Skip Salow had a 12 point, 10 rebound double-double, and Evan Harris had 10 points and 7 assists while the team shot 11-22 from three.

It's a very positive sign that they were able to get such a dominant win without a major scoring contribution from Estrada or Kahrimanovic. They will look to continue playing well as they have their final away game in a stretch that’s lasted over a month. The Broncos are expected to be one of the worst teams in the WCC and come into the game 0-2 in conference and 5-11 overall – both of which are the worst in the conference.

The Broncos’ star player is senior Paco Tudeme (SG, 77 ovr), who is scoring 12.4 points per game and he’s flanked by Jarron Cole (SF, 72 ovr), who is out injured. They have several lanky wings on the roster, but only 1 true big man: 6’10” sophomore Kerwin Jackette (C, 70 ovr) and a tiny guard in 5’6” freshman Skylar Galbreath (PG, 70 ovr). The Broncos play at a very slow pace with no attempt at getting out on the break or attacking the offensive glass. It should be a great game for the Lions to attack the basket and grab rebounds.

If Oggy can get the win, it keeps him as one of 2 teams that is undefeated in conference play.

The game started off very slowly, but the Lions did manage to turn 3 steals into a 6-2 lead. The Broncos truly do play the game at a glacial pace and you can see the Loyola players itching to get out and run. Playing slow doesn’t mean that the Broncos are playing with a purpose though. They spend many possessions passing the ball around then taking a bad shot with 4 seconds left on the clock.

The Lions had built up a 13-4 lead before Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek finally called time to gather his players. We’re nearly halfway through the first period and they have 2 baskets. Something has gotta change.

There was some change – Santa Clara started scoring a bit and brought the game to 19-11. From there, Loyola Started to get more disciplined and founds ways to score efficiently off of the break and with smart offensive. They aren’t shooting great, but finally hit a three when Estrada nails one with 30 seconds left.

The Lions are up 32-16 at half as Santa Clara has only shot 27%. Allen Wentt has 10 points and Evan Harris has 4 assists. The Broncos certainly won’t shoot as poorly in the second half and will probably be more aggressive. The Lions cannot afford to let their foot off the gas.

Reid Christensen violently dunks the ball in the first half.

Tudeme started the second half by attacking the basket and drawing a foul: a clear sign they changed approach during halftime. That change resulted in them scoring the first 6 points of the half, prompting Oggy to call timeout.

From there, there were loads of fouls committed and the Broncos clawed their way back into single digits. LMU had committed 7 team fouls already and it wasn’t even to the midway point of the second half. On top of that, the Lions had gone cold and then a Tudeme three cut the lead to 40-35 and Oggy called another timeout. His team really needed to get their heads back into the game this half.

Skip Salow decided to get his head into the game and nailed a three after the timeout and then dished an assist to Estrada for another three and quickly the Lions were up 11.

From there the Lions saw three major things happen:

1. Their lead got as high as 15 points
2. Multiple players were in foul trouble as they couldn’t keep their hands out of the cookie jar
3. The Broncos made the final scoreline seem more respectable by rapidly scoring 8 points in the final 30 seconds as they made crazy shots.

The Lions won 72-62 in a game they largely dominated, but Oggy can’t feel great about their inability to completely put the game away.

Allen Wentt led the way with 20 points and Lucious Estrada had 16 points but also fouled out.

Tudeme had 13 points on 5-16 shooting for Santa Clara and was 1-8 from three. The Broncos had 46 second half points after only scoring 16 in the first.

Around the NCAA
A lot has happened since we last gave an update, so here’s a recap of some of the results for the top teams in the country. But first some exciting news: St. Francis is #2 in the mid-major poll and Loyola Marymount is #24. Stetson is #8.


The top 5 teams in the country are:

1. #1 Duke (15-0). Though the Blue Devils have only played 1 ranked team all season (#8 Syracuse). They have 5 ranked opponents on their ACC schedule.
2. #2 UConn (18-1). The Huskies are on a roll with 4 ranked wins in their last 5 games. #18 Florida, #25 West Virginia, #8 Syracuse, and #12 Villanova have all fallen to them.
3. #3 Texas (13-1). The Big 12 is bad and the Longhorns are good. It’s hard to imagine them falling out of the top 5.
4. #4 California (15-2). The Bears have wins over #5 UCLA and #13 USC, though they just fell to unranked Arizona.
5. #5 UCLA (15-3). The Bruins are the only team to beat Texas all year and have 4 ranked wins, but a very bad loss to Colorado State.

[studbucket]

Player Spotlight: Ernesto Parkinson

As I play games, I will take time to periodically spotlight some of the fictional players in my NBA. Today we are learning about Ernesto Parkinson, the #1 overall pick in the 2020 draft and starting SG for the Brooklyn Nets.

College Career and NBA Draft
Parkinson was a multi-year starter at Kansas and was considered the #1 prospect in the 2020 draft well before the 2019 season started. He was part of a stacked KU team that also included Freie Holt, Arthur Acker, and even future #1 pick Adrian Stewart. All that talent took them to the Final Four where they fell to Villanova, but along the way they did face Northern Colorado and Oggy, dispatching them easily.

In his final season at Kansas, Parkinson averaged 12 points and 5 rebounds per game in the regular season and 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in the tournament.

In the draft lottery, the Bulls, Knicks, and Kings all had the best chances at landing Parkinson, yet none of those teams ended up with a top 2 pick, missing out on both Parkinson and future NBA star Trevor Merchant. Instead the already talented Nets (with KD and Kyrie) jumped up to pick #1 and there was no doubt about who they’d take: it would be Parkinson. At 6’6” 210 and more than happy to play off the ball, he is a fantastic complement to Durant and Irving.

Player Overview

Parkinson is a well-rounded player who has turned into one of the most complete two-way guards in the NBA but has not hit the heights expected of a #1 overall pick. He attacks the rim and shoots effectively, uses his length well on defense, and can space the floor and distribute. However, he’s not consistent enough to be an All-Star: he’s just as capable of a 35 point game as he is of a 7 point game.

In his rookie season, he won Rookie of the Month several times, and even competed in the dunk contest. The season finished on a sour note as the Nets lost in the first round and fired Kenny Atkinson. They brought in Mike D’Antoni and Parkinson was a huge contributor on a team that finished first in the East at 67-15 and won the 2022 NBA Finals over the Grizzlies.

Since that Finals’ win, he’s been effectively the same player: 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists per game on 50/38/70 shooting splits with some very strong defense. He’s the kind of player every team would love to have as a starting wing, but not a player who is good enough to be the second-best player on a title contender. In many ways he’s Andrew Wiggins, but more consistent. That’s a good player, but it’s no surprise that Wiggins has been on 6 teams in his career so far. With Parkinson’s ability to get to the hoop offensively and his un-ending work ethic and effort on defense, there’s still hope for the 6^th year pro to take another step forward to being a 25 point-per-game scorer and a multi-time All-Star.

We’re 50 games into the season so far, but this is looking like his best offensive season to date: 19.5 points and 8 rebounds per game with an 18 PER.

NBA Stats

Season	Team	GP	GS	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TOPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	PER
2020-21	BRK	59	59	16.8	6.8	4.2	1.4	0.8	2.6	49.6%	35.1%	75.1%	-
2021-22	BRK	67	67	15.8	6.4	4.7	1.6	0.9	2.5	52.7%	38.2%	71.1%	-
2022-23	BRK	40	40	15.8	7.3	4.5	1.3	0.9	2.2	50.7%	39.8%	78.2%	-
2023-24	BRK	80	80	15.9	6.1	3.8	1.3	0.6	2.3	51.2%	36.7%	71.8%	16.2
2024-25	BRK	82	78	15.4	7.1	4.9	0.8	0.3	2.1	52.8%	42.6%	76.6%	15.6
2025-26	BRK	52	52	19.5	7.9	4.5	1.3	0.3	1.9	51.5%	39.9%	71.3%	18.0
Total													-

Bonus trivia
Which real-life player does Parkinson represent from College Hoops 2K8?

Spoiler

Brandon Rush! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Rush

[ChosenOne58]

Re: The Bulgarian Brothers – A College Hoops 2K8 & NBA 2K20 Dynasty

Looks like I checked back in just in time for a recap.

Way to dominate against the Zags.

[studbucket]

Re: The Bulgarian Brothers – A College Hoops 2K8 & NBA 2K20 Dynasty

Looks like I checked back in just in time for a recap.

Way to dominate against the Zags.

I hope to find ways to provide more easy recaps and ways to catch up. We're on 200 pages now (forum defaults), so it's a lot to catch up on.

Of course, I need to find the time to do them.

[studbucket]

Looks like all my missing posts are back. After the HTML gets fixed in them, I'll start posting some more updates.

[BlindSideNZ]

Looks like all my missing posts are back. After the HTML gets fixed in them, I'll start posting some more updates.

We’re finally back! Feels like it took forever to update - I had some worries.

[studbucket]

We’re finally back! Feels like it took forever to update - I had some worries.

Glad you posted, made me realize they fixed the HTML issues with the updated posts. I need to do a pass on the entire thread and fix some formatting, but we're back.

I haven't played much in 2 months, but I've got a small backlog of posts I can start making.

[studbucket]

January 25, 2026 St. Francis at Sacred Heart [NEC]

The Red Flash have been scoring at will no matter who they play and most recently that was Mount St. Mary’s. The Mountaineers scored a very respectable 86 points, but let the Red Flash score 97 and saw 3 of their starters foul out. Erwin Willingham continued to ball out, dropping 26 points while Chris Thompson had 24 himself.

The Red Flash are now 9-0 in conference play and 19-2 overall and welcoming Sacred Heart to town. The Pioneers are 5-2 in conference and in 4^th place and led by 6’11” Martin Harvey (C, 76 ovr). Their second best player is Leslie Larranga (SF, 72 ovr) but he’s out for a month with a broken ankle and they’ll really need Robin Timmerman (SG, 69 ovr) to step up even more – he’s already averaging 12 ppg.

The Pioners play very uptempo and like to get out on the break and prevent other teams from doing so, using their lack of height to their advantage as they beat other teams up and down the court. Only 2 players on their team are over 6’7” and Dinko should have a clear advantage on the boards and on the inside.

The game started perfectly for the Red Flash: a behind-the-back pass on the pick-and-roll from Willingham to Thompson who threw down a dunk over Harvey. The crowd started going crazy and Dinko smiled.

The game’s opening play: Erwin Willingham behind-the-back to Thompson

From there it was like neither team could miss as they were back and forth, up and down the court and attacking the basket. Nobody had time for threes because they all felt like there were open lanes direct to the basket. It’s 14-12 and there’s no sign of it slowing down.

Eventually the Red Flash start hitting some threes and it’s Jameel Clinton and Erwin Willingham who do it. Both have been working on their shooting and it’s great for the Red Flash to have some shooters who can hit shots when Valdez and McGuire aren’t

St. Francis went on a 9-0 run as the half neared its end and was up 42-29 before a min-run from the Sacred Heat made it 47-41. Both teams had taken tons of shots and the Red Flash were 10-10 from the charity stripe and Chris Thompson had 22 points.

The second half was a different story, however. Sacred Heart scored the first 5 points of the half to cut it to 1. St. Francis holds on for a bit, but Sacred Heart takes a 51-50 lead after a Wheless three and they never let go. St. Francis just couldn’t make their shots. They were getting good, open looks at the basket but nothing was falling. Soon that 1 point deficit turned into 7, then 14, then 18. Everything was falling apart for St. Francis, they couldn’t even make free throws after being 10-10 from the line in the first half.

Sacred Heart went on to win 89-72. Since being up 42-29, the Red Flash were outscored 60-30: literally doubled. It was a miserable game for St. Francis who shot 50% in the first half and just 32% in the second half while Sacred Heart shot 43% and then 59% in the second.

Timmerman had 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists while shooting 5-5 from three. Wheless had 21 points and was 4-4 from deep. For the Red Flash, Chris Thompson had 29 points, but only 7 in the second half and nobody else on the team had more than 11 points. It was a bad shooting night and their dreams of an undefeated conference season are out the window.

Around the NBA

• Zion Williamson (PF, 94 ovr) and the Pelicans held the Sonics to just 69 points and scored 144 themselves in a win. He had 53 points and 21 rebounds in the game.
• The Honu are going to really suffer as their star guard Tyler Herro (SG, 83 ovr) is out for 4-6 weeks with right knee issues.
• The Bucks lost to the Thunder 125-111 as Donovan Mitchell (PG, 91 ovr) shot 1-17 from three and scored 11 points. Ooof. However, he bounced back and scored 42 and 49 points in the next two games with wins over Chicago and Denver.
• The Heat are in trouble as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SG, 86 ovr) is hurt once again, and will miss 2-4 weeks with knee tendonitis.
• With Trae Young out with a nagging foot injury, Brandon Ingram (SF, 83 ovr) decided to show all the haters they were wrong with a 53 point performance, which he did on 21-29 shooting. The Hawks beat the Kings in overtime.
• Now Trae Young (PG, 92 ovr) will be out until mid-February with a broken hand, just as he recovered from his foot.
• Devastating news out of Cleveland as Darius Garland (PG, 87 ovr) will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. And just a few days later, Taquan St. Fort (C, 82 ovr) breaks his leg and will miss several months. Cleveland has been playing well, but this all but ends their hopes for a repeat.
• The Spurs have lost big man Raynell Ere (C, 81 ovr) for most, if not all, of the remainder of the season with a broken foot.
• D’Angelo Russell (PG, 86 ovr) will be out until March as the Timberwolves will have to make due.
• Rudolph Butler (SF, 83 ovr) missed 3 weeks in January. In his first game back he faced the Honu and dropped 61 points in a 137-127 win.
  

[studbucket]

January 25, 2026 Loyola Marymount vs San Francisco [WCC]

The Lions are unfortunately coming into this game with a conference loss as they fell to Saint Mary’s 86-78. Dale Glover (C, 73 ovr) scored 34 points off the bench and junior Derek Kelley (PG, 78 ovr) had 11 points, 9 assists, 4 steals, and 3 rebounds as they put away the Lions with a good second half. Skip Salow had 17 points and 8 rebounds and Evan Harris added 15 points and 6 assists off the bench.

Oggy made a somewhat controversial decision but decided to pull the plug on Kahrimanovic at starting point guard and made him the team’s 6th man. Harris is taller, a better defender, and a better passer and the team played better while the UNLV transfer was nursing an injury coming off the bench while Harris started.

The San Francisco Dons come into the game ranked #11 in the nation, 3-0 in the WCC and 15-2 overall including a win over 12 Villanova. They are led by senior Joshua Berrelleca (SF, 83 ovr) a well-rounded 6’10” wing who is scoring 17 points per game. He’s joined by another combined 30 points per game from senior Jabarhi Tobias (PF, 81 ovr) and 6th man Irving Fisher (PF, 80 ovr). Supporting those big 3 are Darrall Whithers (C, 78 ovr), Nelson Forbes (SG, 75 ovr), and Buster Walker (PG, 73 ovr).

They play a fast-paced game and settle into a 2-3 zone on defense. They are good shooters, have great length, and lots of depth at PF and C, but relatively limited depth at guard and wing. They come in shooting 46% from the field, best in the WCC, and 38% from three. These two teams are the top 2 shooting teams in the WCC, and Loyola Marymount has the worst scoring defense in the conference. It’s sure to be a high scoring affair.

Off the opening tip Oggy and the Lions signaled their intent: attack the basket and put pressure on the Dons. Right away Whithers fouled Wentt on a hook shot and sent him to the line. If they can consistently do this, the Lions have a chance.

However, 3 minutes in and the game has not been what was expected. Teams are a combined 1-8 shooting and have 3 total turnovers. The score is 2-1 San Francisco and someone has gotta start making shots.

Skip Salow decided it was him who would do so. The Dons set up in a 1-3-1 and left him open in the corner for a simple three. That seemed to open the floodgates as the teams scored 10 points in the next 90 seconds, with the Dons up 7-6.

A few minutes later San Francisco is up 17-12 as they were shooting 100% from three and have assists on 6 of their 7 baskets. Loyola Marymount responded by getting back to the basics: work the ball into the post. After being down 6-8 points much of the half, they find themselves up 33-32 near the end of the half.

San Francisco was up 38-36 at halftime. As expected it ended up being a high-scoring affair, but it was also closer than expected and had been a fun game. San Francisco was 6-8 from three and Tobias had 5 points, Forbes 9, while Berrelleca only had 5. Wentt and Christensen both had 9 points for the Lions while Estrada had 8. Those 3 need to keep carrying the team.

Early in the second half LMU took a 1 pont lead, but San Francisco responded with a nice run to go up 50-43 and then their press started forcing bad Lions’ turovers and they got the lead up to 10. Oggy got his team to play more patiently and they started clawing back. Their defense was playing surprisingly well and that defense turned into offense as a fast break alley oop cut the lead to 4: 58-62.

Of course, it couldn’t stay calm forever and the fans were treated to some crazy back and forth basketball. Lucious Estrada scored 8 points in 30 seconds but Berrelleca picked up his scoring too and it looked like it was going to be a very tight game. Loyola Marymount forced San Francisco to miss three straight and managed to tie the game at 71…but of course Berrelleca immediately made a three.

Reid Christensen ties the game with a twisting layup as the entire San Francisco team looks on.

Fortunately, Salow responded and tied it at 74, but the Lions’ luck ran out at that point. Allen Wentt missed a bunny with 45 seconds left and LMU was down 2. Then San Francisco got up 4 and despite Loyola’s best efforts and several missed free throws from the Dons, that’s where it ended: 78-74 win for San Francisco.

If Loyola Marymount hadn’t turned the ball over so much early on, they could have won this game. Ultimately it just ended up being a great effort and solid game against the #1 team in the country. A moral victory, but a loss nonetheless.

Joshua Berrelleca played like the NBA prospect that he is in the second half scoring 15 points in that frame and finishing with 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists on 8-14 shooting. Buster Walker had 19 points and 9 assists at point guard.

Lucious Estrada led the Red Flash with 19 points and Christensen had 18 points on 8-9 shooting. Allen Wentt only went 6-12, missing some truly easy looks.

Around the NCAA

• #4 UConn lost to Pittsburgh 60-68. 7’4” Jakob Hutchinson (C, 84 ovr) had 21 points for the Panthers.
• #6 UCLA lost to Washington State 71-76. Derick Souffrant (SF, 78 ovr) had 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in the win.
• #7 Michigan State lost to Wisconsin 72-88. They held projected first round pick Kinzey Braun (PG, 89 ovr) to just 4 points.
• San Francisco is up to 8th in the polls after their win over Oggy.

[Careless Whisper]

Glad to have this back, and to hear that all the missing posts re-populated!

Not glad to see the pair of losses - brutal showing by SFU while they have been head and shoulders better than the rest of the NEC this season, but LMU's loss to USF may hurt more. To be tied with the No. 11 team in the nation in the final minute and not coming away with the win feels like a missed opportunity.

[studbucket]

Glad to have this back, and to hear that all the missing posts re-populated!

Not glad to see the pair of losses - brutal showing by SFU while they have been head and shoulders better than the rest of the NEC this season, but LMU's loss to USF may hurt more. To be tied with the No. 11 team in the nation in the final minute and not coming away with the win feels like a missed opportunity.

Yeah, both losses were disappointing, but I think the Red Flash has to hurt more. They had no business losing by 17 to Sacred Heart, and while Oggy will be disappointed, the progress from his team is huge. No way his team could have played a game like this last season, so it's a moral victory for sure.

Kahrimanovic continues to be a mystery for Oggy. How can he best unlock him?

[BlindSideNZ]

Glad you posted, made me realize they fixed the HTML issues with the updated posts. I need to do a pass on the entire thread and fix some formatting, but we're back.

I haven't played much in 2 months, but I've got a small backlog of posts I can start making.

Been a bit of a nightmare trying to catch up on everything honestly. All the page numbers and stuff have changed too.

nice to get back into the swing of things now. That San Francisco loss hurts over something as controllable as a turnover.